Accountant turned professional monster hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, managed to stop the nefarious Old Ones' invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones.

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Publisher's Summary

Accountant turned professional monster hunter Owen Zastava Pitt managed to stop the nefarious Old Ones' invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones. The Condition is led by a fanatical necromancer known as the Shadow Man. The government wants to capture the Shadow Man and has assigned the enigmatic Agent Franks to be Owen's full-time bodyguard, which is a polite way of saying that Owen is monster bait.

With supernatural assassins targeting his family, a spy in their midst, and horrific beasties lurking around every corner, Owen and the staff of Monster Hunter International don't need to go hunting, because this time the monsters are hunting them. Fortunately, this bait is armed and very dangerous.

If you could sum up Monster Hunter Vendetta in three words, what would they be?

World's best villain.

What did you like best about this story?

The villain in this story is great. He's cunning and powerful and, most importantly, understandable. He's a fantastic example of a man driven to evil, rather than being evil for evil's sake. His motives are clear and his means are ruthless, he was a fantastic character.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This one continues the excellent quality of the first Monster Hunter book, with Oliver bringing Owen to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Sometimes, the end justifies the means... but an automatic shotgun always means the end to something.

Any additional comments?

This is a great sequel to a fun first book. I look forward to the next book in the series.

All 3 Monster Hunter books were Awsome and I cant wait for the 4th thru.... I will be purchasing all of them as I can't imagine the story line ending or flattening out. High action, great characters and great story from the "get go" to "get done".

If, your anwser to these questions, are no. Then applaud yourself for being much smarter than the rest of us; as well as probaly a working heart.

Righteous thinking or not, if'n we ever treated loved ones or anyone, like these folks working at MHI, then I think the monsters inside all of us, would surely win in the end anyways. Still, I was never was that bright.......

Who was your favorite character and why?

The English monster man, Hood. His reasoning though, scewed. Seem to have, only the desire to help out mankind. Blantant murder, by his human counterparts, not so much. Do you always need a good excuse to kill indiscrimately ?

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

Excellent, for a man, with the task, to picking a fight with anyone at anytime about anything, and he was a complete righteous angered ars'e about all of it, good job (I think?)

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Humans without heart, and Monsters too!

Any additional comments?

All set aside. If'n you've got the the EL-Macho bug in you, you'll probaly like. If'n not avoid.

Monster Hunter Vendetta is the second installment of Larry Correia’s MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL series. In the first book, Monster Hunter International, we met Owen Zastava Pitt who used to be an accountant and gun hobbyist until his boss turned into a werewolf and Owen had to kill him. Now Owen is one of the best agents MHI has ever had.

It’s lucky that he’s so good at his job because Owen made a very dangerous enemy when he recently thwarted the Old Ones’ attempt to break into our dimension (read about this in the first book, Monster Hunter International). Now Owen is being hunted by the minions of the Old Ones, including a necromancer named The Shadow Man and the members of a death cult called the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition. Because they’re evil, they’ll stop at nothing to get their way, including killing innocent people and targeting Owen’s family to get at him.

This time Owen and the gang are fighting — along with all the usual werewolves, vampires and zombie hordes — doppelgängers, undead elephants, zombie bears, a shoggoth, giant walking trees, gangsta gnomes (so funny!), a brain worm that eats memories, and Julie’s mother. It sounds like too much — everything but the kitchen sink, you know (though I wouldn’t be surprised to find MHI shooting animated kitchen sinks in a future installment) — but it works.

As usual, the government can’t stop themselves from meddling with MHI. They want in on the action and they know Owen is the target, so Agent Franks, one of Owen’s human nemeses, is assigned as Owen’s bodyguard. If you didn’t love Agent Franks already (and you probably didn’t), you will by the end of Monster Hunter Vendetta.

It doesn’t happen very often that the second book in a series is better than the first, but it’s true in this case. Monster Hunter Vendetta is a wild ride — to say that it’s exciting, frightening, creative, violent, bloody and funny would be too much of an understatement. It’s eye-popping, heart-pounding, and totally unputdownable. I was engrossed (and grossed out) from the first page to the last. As I mentioned in my review of the previous book, it’s too gory for me to say that I really love it — a few too many disemboweled bodies and heads bitten off for me — but I can say that I really really admire it and I almost love it. Those who go for this sort of thing are likely to consider MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL a perfect specimen of testosterone-filled dude lit. (This sounds sexist, I know, but Larry Correia could have made this series more appealing to female readers by increasing the romantic tension.)

One thing I particularly liked about Monster Hunter Vendetta is that it’s very funny. Not the wacky slapstick Three Stooges kind of funny — there’s none of that. Correia uses a delightfully morbid dry humor which works especially well with Oliver Wyman’s narration of the audio version. Though Wyman’s narration is lively, he deadpans the humorous lines perfectly. (If you’re reading MHI and haven’t tried the audio version, you’re missing out.) There are also occasional SFF allusions that made me smile.

I’m impressed with how well plotted this series has been so far. Larry Correia set up the background for Monster Hunter Vendetta back in the first book when we learn about Owen’s family, Julie’s parents, and the history of MHI. I already felt like I knew Owen’s mother, a Serbian woman who demonstrates her love by cooking for people, his father who brought up his boys to be tough survivalists, and his brother who became a heavy metal rock star. When we meet Owen’s family in Monster Hunter Vendetta we (and Owen himself) start to comprehend that his destiny has been in place since before he was even born. This plot is way bigger than we realized back in book one. I can’t wait to read on….

Accountant turned professional monster hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, managed to stop the nefarious Old One’s invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones. The Condition is led by a fanatical necromancer known as the Shadow Man. The government wants to capture the Shadow Man and has assigned the enigmatic Agent Franks to be Owen’s full time bodyguard, which is a polite way of saying that Owen is monster bait. With supernatural assassins targeting his family, a spy in their midst, and horrific beasties lurking around every corner, Owen and the staff of Monster Hunter International don’t need to go hunting, because this time the monsters are hunting them. Fortunately, this bait is armed and very dangerous…

The writing leaves quite a bit to be desired in my opinion. It's told from the main characters point of view and is full of redundant comments and uninteresting observations. I like the plot so I struggled to rate this so low but it was like pulling teeth to get myself to finish it due to the writing.

Would you ever listen to anything by Larry Correia again?

Probably not

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favorite?

I wasn't big on any of them.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Yes, and I have a few times. The M.H.I. series is one of my primary 'filler' series between new titles. M.H.I. is a fun series and still enjoyable after a few listens. I especially like re-listening to it with new people around to try and get them hooked on it.

What did you like best about this story?

As with the first book in the series, M.H.I. Vendetta is a fast paced urban fantasy full of action, humor, a bit of drama, and even a bit of romance. But, my personal favorite thing about it has to be Mr. Correia's take on what could be considered traditional fantasy creatures in a rather hilarious fashion.

What does Oliver Wyman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really enjoy Mr. Wyman's portrayal of certain characters. Without spoilers, I especially found his portrayal of a certain spy hired later in the book and M.H.I's newest I.T. hire far funnier than I would have pictured otherwise.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

As with the first book, I did want to listen to it in one sitting. But, I had to sleep.

Any additional comments?

M.H.I. Vendetta is another great read from Larry Correia. If you enjoyed the first installment, you will definitely enjoy this sequel.

Correia is a little weak on the female characters but I think that may be part of his charm. He may identifiy so much with Owen, or Owen with him, that he has a hard time putting the mechanics of the male/female romantic relationship into words.

I don't think it matters much as the story moves along at such a heady clip that there may not be time for such fripperies, anyway.

I don't know much about guns (though I have one and there are more around) other than the point and shoot aspect which seems to me the critical bit but I still love the professional talk about the weapons buried in the books. My husband does understand all the nomenclature did understand and probably walked away with an even better appreciation. I was gratified that he is laughing at all the points I did.

Corriea has the gift of a very pleasant writing voice, sort of invites you to keep listening, invites you to sympathize with the characters - and, invariably, I do.

I enjoyed every minute of listening to this book. The writer is sometimes violent yet funny. Like Harry Dresden of the Dresden files, the character is sarcastic, flawed and definitely an anti-hero. The narrator Oliver Wyman is amazing, really. His voice intonations and characters are funny, dramatic and truly believable. He really actuates the book. The first book is a warm up to this one. I say, go for it. If you like vampires, werewolves and other demons, you'll enjoy this true action adventure.

The first Monster Hunter book was quite a tour de force, a highly original-feeling story chock full of humor, insane action sequences, and epicness. The sequel gives you more of the same - which may satisfy those craving more of such, but for me it's starting to get a bit repetitive.

The plot picks up where the first left off, which is something I wasn't too keen on. Correia tries to up the stakes in every possible way, when I thought he had reached too far in the first volume. This results in what feels like a kitchen-sink mentality, where he tries to tie everything together (feeling like ret-conning at times), creating ridiculous situations for the heroes to try and escape from. The result is long, frustrating sequences that seem to be drawn-out for the intent purpose of creating more tension and upping the stakes. Then Correia has no choice but to resort to lots of deus ex machina moments in order to bail the heroes out of said situations.

Perhaps with this book the initial plotline is over, although it sounds like he's going to continue it, with lots of foreshadowing and prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Although there are elements I like to the story and his writing, I'm not sure if I want to continue any further if we are to follow the same (now old-feeling) plot line.

After the first book, "Monster Hunter International", I knew I'd be in for a treat and was not disappointed. The prequel was really good, pity ratings only go to 5 a really great monster battle of a book.

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